consider this a requiem of breath
by little red cardigan
Summary: This is how they should be. Always touching, forever intertwined. AU. Threesome. Jared/Paul/Bella


**A/N: **Let it be known that I have _never _done this sort of thing before. I never thought I would publish something involving a threesome, let alone having the guts to read other stories about it. This is my first time writing something like this...obviously...so please don't judge too harshly. This may get confusing because I don't explain everything within the first few paragraphs, but please keep reading. To avoid further confusion, I put Jared as the eldest, older than Paul by a month. Bella follows in age by a couple of months, give or take.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing. Bleh.

**Rating: **M - just to be safe.

**Warning: **Threesome (not too _too_ explicit) between Jared, Paul, and Bella. It's also AU so if any of these things aren't your cup of tea, then I advise you to leave this fic. And I know that imprinting is only meant to be between two people, but honestly, I couldn't stop writing this after I started.

**Summary: **When Edward leaves, instead of coming to Jake immediately, what if Bella encounters Jared and Paul first? Stumbling into the two boys only sets everything in motion.

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consider this a requiem of breath

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_don't pack up the moon or dismantle the sun-_

**...**

Pellucid tears slip past the corners of those eyes and Paul is both heartbroken and in awe of the sight. Trembling sobs quiver out of that sweet, delectable mouth as his lover presses his body tighter to him, muscled arms clinging to him excessively as though death was a minute away from warming over. Paul may not be as expressive as the other boy _barely barely holding it in_- Jared's anguish speaking louder in volumes, yet the former feels like his heart's been gutted out of his chest with sheer abandon.

He's a fool to believe in the concept of heaven. Such thing on this earth can only be referred as intense delirium. Be as it may, it feels like the gates of the light are opening to him whenever _she's_ around. He finds resolution in the mischief of her eyes, the music in her light laughter, the quirks in her little smiles, the otherworldly beauty in her very presence. He knows Jared feels exactly the same way as he does; Jared had been the one to point her out as their third soul mate in their intimate triangle.

"Paul...oh, _Paul_..." the older male breathes his whole life in a papery whisper, unstoppable tears prolonging their varied trek down his smooth and tan cheekbones. "What do we – what do we do? She's _ours_, Paul! She belongs to us...!"

Fear of rejection has always stopped them from seeking her out sooner. The last few months has been filled with wrong encounters with unexplained incentives that eventually had their – yes, their – Bella's back turned to them, which is possibly the last thing they had ever wanted with her. Unreturned phone calls, refusals to answer the door, downright running in the other direction when one of the males tries to approach the girl. At the end of the day, Jared traps himself in the bathroom while Paul nearly bashes a hole into the wall.

"Shh..." Paul murmurs in consolation, kissing his lover's tears away while his own start brimming along his lower eyelids.

Jared tucks his face into Paul's neck, letting out an unsuppressed, shaky sigh. "She rejected us, Paul." He can barely say her name out loud because it hurts too much just to do so. "No one's ever rejected the laws of imprinting before," he mouths mournfully along warm skin.

"Bella won't be able to fight it." And it sounds and feels like Paul's trying his damndest to reassure himself. He runs a hand through Jared's soft dark hair, nuzzling his chin atop the crown of his head. "She can't fight the pull. No one can." _holding each other tightly-_

"Or die trying," Jared whispers numbly.

The other boy stiffens automatically at the thought. That _cannot_ be a possibility – no, no, they won't let that happen to her. Imagination gets the better of Paul and he sees Bella oh-so sickly and pale on the brink of death, still resisting the urges of imprinting. His chest begins to heave erratically at the dark alcoves of his mind, but he stops himself because he refuses to let Jared see him like this.

"She's not going to die, Jared. Bella can't. I won't let that happen," Paul mutters back with every once of determination he can sum up in that one moment, unwilling to let two of his precious things slide past his clenched fingers.

Because if Bella dies, there's no doubt that the two of them won't be far behind her.

(_...cottage deep in the woods... surrounded by small fairy lights to celebrate Christmas...snow dusting the roof that the pavements of the gorgeous stone-tiled house...bright smiles, holding hands...__their home__ it is..._

_...Bella lazily making a snow angel, lips curved towards the sky..._

_...a freckle of snowflakes before Jared plops onto the snow right next to her, turning until his larger body is curled up against hers, his lips sprinkling a current of kisses onto her face while Bella uses that as an excuse to sneak some snow down his shirt..._

_...hips slanted against the front doorway of their house and Paul smiles at the scene before him, ever thankful for being struck with such adoration and love in his life before he joins the snowball fray with a child-like grin..._

_...of delighted sensation and laughter that _needs_ to come true..._)

They've been given this same dream day after day for a reason.

**...**

There's a mirror against the wall that's placed right before anyone exits the door of their house. It's specifically hung there so that her dear father is able to get one last, reasonable look of his appearance (odd for a male) before setting off towards the day.

When Bella attempts to walk past it without a look, like she does everyday, she is surprised that she is halted this time. The evidence of many unexplainable sleepless nights are written all over her pale face, the circles under her eyes looking more purple and pronounced from her white pale skin. She touches the light bags with caution, deeming that, hell yes, she looks terrible. (She looks like _he_ left her all over again.) Shaking her head idly, she does a little jumping number to put her shoes on before flicking her wrist to shut the door-

Jared and Paul. _Both_ of them, here, in front of her house.

Huh, what are the chances?

Aside from looking like flawless, swoon-worthy male _gods_ on anabolic steroids, the two boys look as though they could use a couple nights of good sleep as well. Their cheeks look whiter, which should be impossible on that genetic tan skin, their faces a bit more gaunt, the lingering oasis of pain so very transparent in their dark irises.

Before she even has the chance to escape them, Jared grips her shoulders. "Are you okay, Bells? Getting enough sleep?" Alright, she's not going to lie – Jared's touch sends involuntary tingles down her arms. She can't think about it though because the shocking worry in his orbs are surprisingly mirrored and embedded into Paul's expression of anxiety.

"Erm, I have to go. Late for...school." _Nice_ one, idiot.

However, Jared's grip doesn't loosen one bit. "We just want to know how you're doing. You've been avoiding our calls—"

"And for a good reason," Bella replies irately, slyly wiggling away from his grasp. For some reason, her throat dries and her heart jolts at how absolutely _shattered_ Jared looks the moment she relinquishes herself from his hold. "I told you. I don't want to be a part of this sick-ass game you two are playing so if you don't mind—"

"It's not a game to us, kitten." Oh, it's that nickname again, the one they've reserved only for her. She hasn't heard of it in a long while, yet can't tell whether or not she misses them calling her that as of late. Paul wraps a large hand around her thin wrist. "We have to show you something," he adds, and in typical Paul Lahote fashion, he drags her straight into the woods with Jared hot on their heels.

Bella narrows brown eyes. "Why would I listen to anything you two have to say?"

Almost like magnets, the two boys gravitate closely to her, Paul weaving his fingers across her long tresses while Jared bumps her back with his chest and grazes her hipbone with a calloused hand. She should feel irregular that she's receiving strange attention from two different boys, but she finds that she really doesn't mind them touching her like this. Her body feels sated and relieved in a way that is indescribable to be put in exact words. As expected, she can't help but feel irritated at the way she's responding, or lack thereof.

"Because you'll understand everything after this," Paul responds, that hand in her hair dropping down to curve along her neck. He leans in and presses his forehead against hers, so much that their noses are brushing each other's, that his warm breath is just ghosting her raspberry-tinted lips.

So enraptured by the close proximity of Paul that Bella misses the way his arm creeps past the side of her body to cradle the cheek of the boy behind her, deeply satisfied by the way Jared immediately reciprocates by suppressing an inaudible sigh, closing his eyes briefly with his head inclining to lean more into Paul's palm while his own digits dig deeply into the pale girl's hip.

_This_ is how they should be. Always touching, forever intertwined.

A second later, they're both disentangled from her and it's a whiplash to her face at the absence of their dual touch. Inwardly, she's grieving the loss of their hands, their hardened bodies, their warmth. (Except she doesn't know _why_.)

Her eyes blink owlishly when both of the males move their hands to the zipper of their jeans. "Wait, what are you guys...?" Bella pauses midway, hypnotized at how they're taking off their pants. "Um, I hate to break it to you two, but I don't think the freaking forest is the best place for a striptease."

The boys laugh because that comment. It's got _Bella_ written all over it.

"What if someone walks by? You'd scar them for life. Think of the childre—_HOLY SHIT!_"

Because suddenly standing in front of her after an explosion of fur...were two abnormally gigantic wolves.

**...**

"So both of you imprinted on me? And...each other?"

Based on what they've told her already, she concludes that the entire imprinting process robs its victim of a choice. But then Paul comes up and claims that people who've imprinted were always meant to be together, just that imprinting gives that little _push_ in the right direction.

"We're meant to be a threesome then?" Bella's right eye twitches marginally at the thought. After a brutal breakup, she instantly gets queasy at the slightest idea of being in a dependent relationship with someone else, let alone a threesome.

"Yeah," Jared sends her a beautiful smile because he's so damn _happy_ that she's willing to give them a chance. Naturally, his eyes drop down to stare at her sinuous lips, and from the corner of his peripheral vision, he can see that Paul's appreciating them as well. "Paul and I imprinted on each other first, but even then, we felt like something was missing. Once we saw you, we just _knew_."

They're sitting on the front steps of her porch – _fuck school_ – dragging themselves here after their debacle in the woods. Somewhere along the lines of legends and impromptu story-telling, Bella finds herself sitting on a lower step between Paul's legs, her elbows resting on his knees while her legs intertwine with Jared's adjacent ones.

Now that she thinks about it, they've always managed to touch her in some way or another. Whether subtle or not, it hadn't been unusual to see tan fingers stroking her hair, large hands splayed over the small of her back, muscular arms wrapped possessively around her waist, a couple innocent kisses here and there, and the protection sought in the way one of the boys would hold her hand. They had always been willing to drive forty-five minutes from La Push to Forks just to pick her up from school, as if they couldn't handle the separation.

_castles we've built and the dreams we've shared-_

Paul inhales sharply from behind her. "Just know that you still have a choice, kitten." His arms of sinew and robust come to wrap themselves loosely around her thin shoulders, although his fingers sink tightly into her skin, the incapability of physically letting her go, despite the choice of his words. "Regardless of your decision, we'll still be your friends." And that leaves such a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Nothing will change," Jared agrees quickly afterward, but he looks unsure of himself. "After all, we've been your friends all this time, right? We'll be okay as long as you're happy." Both a truth and a lie.

"But won't you guys go crazy? I mean Sam..." What is known as Sam Uley's darkest days is the period from whence Emily first rejects him to after the day he accidentally gives her those terrible scars on her face. Won't that happen to them too?

Like lightning, Jared's hand shoots out to grab hers. "We don't know."

The entire world looks a whole lot bleaker, darker, after his words, and even she can't think of leaving them. His much larger hands twine with hers until there is an indiscernible mix of copper and alabaster while she gives the small relieved sound of expelled air once Paul rests his smooth chin in the junction of her neck and shoulder, tightening around her body self-consciously.

"Before you make any decision," Paul knows he's stalling, "will you come to the bonfire with us tonight?"

Bella is just about to respond when she sees Jared reaching his hand out to touch Paul's face, to skim lightly at his eyebrow. The sweet adoration is pronounced in his features as he strokes his already established lover, and Bella has the instinctive feeling to turn around in her position just to see the how Paul responds to the touch in facial features. But, oddly, she knows without conscience that the expression of love and tenderness is reflected on the other male's face.

"Alright," she nods after a while, not willing to break the supple silence.

Identically exuberant smiles light up their faces before Bella is being traded into Jared's arms, the hot temperature beneath their limbs never once leaving her skin during the transition. It seems that the moment Paul releases her from his grasp, Jared is quick to replace the warmth and contrast in fingers and touch, pulling her into a snug embrace. As if they can't handle _not_ touching her...

**...**

"It was an accident—"

"Fucking _shred_ him to pieces—"

"Aw, come on, you guys—"

The bonfire was fun, in between analyzing the confusion that swirls at her reactions towards Paul and Jared. She knows that her threesome imprinting relationship isn't the only one that's atypical in the circle. Jacob, who's been as straight as a ruler, abruptly bends like a rainbow the minute he sees Embry in a different light; Quil's imprinted on a freaking two year old; and most shocking of all, her two closest female friends, Angela and Leah, have been hiding a secret relationship from her all this time.

She chokes loudly on her food when she sees Leah swooping down to plant a big one on Angela. Mind-blowingly incoherent, corner of her eyes habitually twitching again, with Emily laughing at her good-naturedly on one side and Jared and Paul fussing over her on the other, she truly believes that she doesn't understand the meaning of a normal life anymore. ("We wanted to tell you, Bella, really, but that would mean that I would have to tell you about Leah's _furry_ business and I didn't want to jeopardize that for her.")

But normalcy doesn't exactly suit her. She's dated a vampire after all.

And then – and this really was an accident – Quil collides into her with such a force that she twists and scrapes her neck and collarbone against the sharp edge of the log they're supposed to sit on. She doesn't notice the blood until Emily gasps at her, doesn't feel it until Jared is roughly pulling the front collar of Quil's shirt while Paul aims a clenched fist at him with such animalistic, brutal ferocity-

Now, Bella sits on a stool in the bathroom of Sam and Emily's house, watching in mild amusement as her boys – _her?_ – contemplate on whether or not to beat poor Quil into a bloody pulp or actually dress the wound that's loitered down her neck.

In vain, she tries to stop them from ripping Quil's face off. "He didn't see me from where he was coming—"

"That's not good enough of an excuse!" Paul explodes furiously, snarling as he almost goes back to open the bathroom door. "He's been given fucking eyes for a reason! That asshole might as well _use_ them once in a damn while!"

The smell of rubbing alcohol wafts under, and of course, her nostrils wrinkle in distaste. She's been accustomed to that smell already, not only because she's a grade A klutz, but also because she's prone to be tangled in..._strange_ situations that don't at all make sense when she's trying to explain it to Charlie or the doctors and nurses at the hospital.

Jared's the quicker of the two to hold in his anger, despite the fact that he still looks too unhappy at the situation. He croons soothingly when she jerks at the contact of alcohol on her skin, wincing only a little. It makes her skin feel colder than a glacier evaporates, but thankfully, his fingers are still wonderfully warm and dry, a comfort to whatever stress that's currently building up. She hears Jared's breathing – it's hollower than normal. His eyes are darkened with a certain _something _and she pinpoints her gaze on the tongue that runs over his bottom lip.

"_The purpose of an imprint is to make a shape shifter stronger, to provide him relief and comfort..."_

As Billy Black's words reverberate in her mind, her hand snatches like a whip to grab at a still-angry Paul. At the touch, the aforementioned boy looks at her wide-eyed, all animosity eradicated from his face, reminiscent of a baby deer caught in the headlights. She reels him in with an upturn of her wrist, quite not understanding what the hell she's doing but complacent enough to just go with the flow, bringing him close enough to see the dusky twilight in her eyes.

Paul is rendered speechless, which is a magnificent feat to those who know him. Bella surprises him and closes the distance between them, fitting her lips blithely over his.

His gasp dies in his throat as Bella tilts her head against his, and it's just an awkward angle from how she's seated on the stool. She can hear the male's drumming heartbeat through this kiss, the unexpected press of their lips together synchronized harmony as a pale hand rises to graze gently at his cheek. Paul finds that same heart-stopping pleasure that threads it way through him whenever Jared kisses him, wreaking plundering calamity on his system now.

She's about to swipe his closed lips open with her tongue, testing the cool waters, before they hear the sharp intake of breath from the other male in the bathroom. It cracks through the air like a gunshot, prompting them to detach themselves quickly and look like admonished children. Jared, dilated eyes and trembling fingers, and anyone in the room can hear his loud swallow.

Fingering the rapid pulse along Paul's skin, she lets go to wind her arms around Jared's neck, spreading her legs slowly to accommodate his structure between her slender thighs. Unlike with Paul, she tries something different and pulls Jared down to her, kissing him firmly on the mouth with open lips, grazing teeth, and pressured tongues on opposite caverns of mouth.

Hands still trembling and not really knowing what to do with them on this unchartered territory, Paul's hands come to take his own, languidly guiding them towards Bella's waist. Jared can smell the commingled scent of musk and cinnamon where Paul runs his mouth across her arched neck. His eyes peek open to see the glint of white of Paul's teeth before they sink lightly onto Bella's shoulder.

Enamored, he leaves her pleasing mouth to brush with the other boy's equally appetizing one, consciously feeling every part of Bella using her arms to drag him in even closer, if that is even possible at this point. He acknowledges Paul's hands running smoothly between their tight bodies, his heart jumping to his throat-

A knock on the door ruthlessly tears them apart.

Bella blushes deeply, but waits patiently for the verdict. On the other hand, the two males look guiltily at the door that's, quite frankly, scared the fucking hell out of them, barely restrained curses brimming at their mouths.

"Everything okay? Are you still bleeding a lot, Bella?" comes Emily's worried voice.

"No, I'm fine," Bella answers without a break in her voice. "Just getting patched up."

"Oh, okay. Let me know if you need anything..." The distant padding of her footsteps indicates that she's walking away.

Awkward silence cuts through the air like a large knife, the aftermath a distinct contrast to something so beautiful in depth, so remarkable in affinity, so completely new to them all, so breathlessly tantalizing beyond anything imaginable. Why is this so different from all the other times they've touched each other? All the other times where subtle touches were seemingly innocent and overlooked?

Because they _understand_ now. They were _complete_.

It is Paul's turn to take care of her now, his actions loud in reverence of the way he dresses her clean wound with white gauze, wrapping the bandages around her neck with tenderness unseen by outsiders. There is a pained, tortured look on his face, as though he already knows what decision Bella's going to make. Jared clutches the base of the sink with inhuman strength, his fingertips pinching into the enameled steel enough to leave small dents, but constraining himself because he doesn't want Sam to get mad at his fingerprints.

**...**

The ride back to her house is eerily silent. There had been times where this truck had been filled with outrageously dirty jokes, the transmission of heartfelt laughter and the clutching of sides, the cycle of smug expressions in expense of others.

Another second and it looks as though Paul will be able to rip the steering wheel off the dashboard. Jared absentmindedly stares out of the window into the darkness, witness to rolling lush of trees and the whizzing canvas of the huge forest all around them.

"You're going to say no to us, aren't you, kitten?" Jared inquiries in a broken murmur of breath.

He is the first to speak since the bathroom incident and Bella inwardly blanches at the question. _Huh?_

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," Paul adds without emotion, disappointment and shame bristling his handsome features. "After the way we – we _attacked_ you in there...we don't blame you for not wanting to be involved in all this fucking shi—"

Her laughter breaks the beginning of his misunderstood rant, sounding so musical that the boys can't help but let their eyes close briefly as the melodic sound tingles through their ears. But the fact that she's laughing at a time like _this_ shakes their reverie, with Paul's eyes instantly coming to stare at her reflection in the rearview mirror while Jared turns his whole body to the backseat to observe her.

Once her humor dies down, Bella stares back at them lazily. "I love how two assume before asking," she admits dryly. Semi-consciously touching her bandaged neck, she grins. "Seriously, am I the only one in this car that wants to give this freaky threesome a try?"

Paul slams down upon the brakes. _Hard_. Really, it's a wonder why the airbags don't pop up at the friction.

Bella's seatbelt chokes her and she glares at Paul. "What the hell was that?" At no immediate answer, she fails to notice that they've stopped in the middle of an empty highway and continues on. "And for the record, _I_ was the one that attacked both of you. I'm the one that initiated the kisses—"

And all this time, she hasn't even realized that both boys are out of the car. The break in her statement occurs the moment Jared rips the backseat car door with unrestrained fervor, memory of that slightly-dented sink in Sam and Emily's bathroom, and literally drags her out of the vehicle and into his arms. Welcomed dizziness is what she feels, although she doesn't know whether or not it is because she is encompassed in the essence of Jared or the fact that he's spinning her around in the air like no tomorrow.

Finally cradling Bella close to his body, he lets her dangle there, a foot from the ground. Wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, she meets heartwarming ecstasy in Paul's face. She feels Jared sliding his lips down the un-bandaged part of her neck, a sigh threatening to fly through her closed lips.

"We thought you'd leave us again," his hot mouth whispers against her cold skin, words pronounced in between the heated kisses.

_No. Never again. _

Still clinging onto Jared, her hand reaches out towards Paul. That simple gesture ignites the reaction she wants, the reaction she so desperately _craves_ when the latter boy fists a hand in her tumble of silken hair, wildly pressing his lips to hers in a fusion of provoked and newly-discovered want. Feeling Paul nip eagerly at her lip, Bella knows that he is in his element as she freefalls and spirals into something that she has formerly misinterpreted as a humiliation on her account. How utterly _wrong_ she was.

There is nothing terrible or embarrassing or morbid about _this_.

Plunging his tongue into Bella's mouth mercilessly, Paul finds a way to mold his body against Jared's back, his hand dipping under the hem of the t-shirt belonging to his best friend and lover to touch bare skin. Jared jerks at the familiar _touched so many many times_- brazen graze, but doesn't move away as Paul's hand finally lands covetously atop his impressively chiseled abdomen. Those fingers run lightly along the lines of each protruded muscle, pushing for Jared to let loose a guttural moan right into Bella's ear.

Jared's noise of wanton lust inadvertently strikes a cord in Bella, causing her to buck against the older male's body, her legs tightening around his strong waist. As one hand digs into his shoulder, the other latches onto the nape of Paul's neck, playing idly with the curling ends of his short inky hair. Still deliriously trapped in an open-mouthed kiss, she gasps into Paul's mouth when she feels something wet along her neck. True excitement and ardor cascades into her as Jared licks, bites, and suckles at the base of her throat like the inner wolf he is.

The boys must have some inner monologue transferring between them because they stop their carnal ministrations on her at exactly the same time. Paul pulls away first, giving her mouth another sweet peck before he steps away from the tangled two, a satisfied smile playing at his lips. She enjoys the sight of him for half a second before another pair of lips sweep in and lay claim on her mouth. It is shorter than Paul's, but no less lacking in intensity. As he pulls away, Jared reluctantly detaches himself from her and tenderly deposits her to sit on the edge of the truck bed.

Her eyes widen drastically as Jared brushes his hand against Paul's chin before dragging him in for a drugging kiss.

There is easing familiarity in the way they touch each other, anxious and greedy hands slipping under shirts to scrape nails against skin, infinitely tugging the other closer until the two are coiled around until she can't tell whose arms belong to whom. It hits her then- they're sexual partners already. This really shouldn't surprise her but her cheeks flush anyway. Raspy moans are ill-concealed behind the urging of their shared kiss and Bella fights tooth and nail not to drool at the sight before her eyes.

They share a spasm of short sips of the mouth with each other before finally parting a couple minutes later, gorgeously flushed cheeks and rumpled clothing left in wake. However, she finds herself sitting up straighter when they both turn to stare at her.

"You should know how _broken_ we were when you first rejected us two month ago," Paul starts, his teeth worrying his bottom lip as his hand places itself atop her jean-clad thigh. The statement itself breaks her heart a little. "You didn't realize about the whole imprinting process then, but you walking out on us..." Swallows tightly, as though the memory of that day was too much to bear. "It was like you were saying no to us."

(They're never going to tell her how many days they spent on the brink of tears, how many days they couldn't even eat or sleep because the thought of her hating them was gruesome and unbearable-)

Maybe she had reacted too rashly that day. Hurting them is the very last thing on her mind. "I only walked away because I thought you were playing some game with me." At their gazes, so filled with hurt, she is forced to explain herself. "I know, I shouldn't have thought that about you two. I mean, you two were my friends for god's sake. Friends don't do that to each other, but honestly, I thought there was something wrong with me."

Bella barely manages the last part of her sentence out before Jared exhales harshly while Paul's hand on her thigh tightens.

"There is _nothing_ wrong with you, kitten," Jared declares fiercely, as though the idea of something wrong with her is offensive all on its own. Paul nods tersely in agreement before his palm loosens, taking the time to rub small patterns of circles on her inner thigh. "Don't you dare ever say that again, you hear me?"

She sends him a small smile. "But I did think something was seriously wrong with me. One day I was close to kissing _you_," she says pointedly in Paul's direction, "and the next, I'm pressed against the wall by _you_," looks at Jared again, "and then you _both_ came up to me in the same suggestive manner and I assumed that you had to be playing with me or something. The idea that the two of you were interested in me at the same time was ridiculous—"

"But true," Paul cuts in. He leans in and places a soft kiss at her jawbone. "We're sorry, Bells. We should have handled that better."

"Is that why you've been avoiding us?" Jared asks after him.

"No." Bella averts her gaze to the side, tongue pressed against her cheek. "I was falling in love with both of you and I didn't like it. So I thought the feelings would go away if I didn't see you for a while." Pauses to laugh. "Worst idea ever," she adds lowly, liking the way their deep chuckles soar through the air while she admits the fact. "But this imprinting thing justifies how you acted around me...we're _meant_ to be together, right?"

"You still have a choice—"

"Christ, I already told you that my damn answer was yes, Paul!"

Her irritation ebbs away rather quickly when Paul crushes her to his chest, rubbing his cheek against her hair. Bella can barely breathe in this convoluted embrace, but the genuine joviality that radiates from the boy is worth it. She turns her head slightly to see a large smile on Jared's face, so wide that it hurts, but he doesn't give fucking damn because _she's actually accepted them_. Their hearts have lifted from the dark corner it's been in for the past agonizing sixty days because she's said yes.

After a celebration of kisses, both tender and sensual, they finally decide to take her home and she gleefully gets to sit in the front seat with them this time, sandwiched between her best friends, her lovers, her boys.

Bella is sure that she's going to get an earful from Charlie, but hell, she doesn't care because there are more remotely important things to worry about. As she leans her head against Paul's shoulder, she likes the way he loosely wraps an arm around her hips while driving one-handed. With her nimble hand enclosed in both of Jared's palms, she likes the way he sprinkles delicate little kisses from her chin, down her neck, and to her collarbone in glorious repetition.

Their threesome is practically written in the stars.

Oh, she can _so_ get used to this.

**/fin**

* * *

**A/N: **I know, another one of these stupid things, but this is actually important. This was intended to be a two-part fic, with the second and last chapter dealing with Edward's return, getting in depth with their three-way relationship and all that. Or maybe a flashback of how the boys met her. Possibly some smut. Perhaps lemon. Heh.

So what do you think? Should I make a second chapter to this or just leave it as a oneshot? Please review and tell me what you think! Oh, some feedback of this story would be grateful as well. Thanks for taking the time to read this fic!


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